Recent content by CastleBravo

A *good* 300 W PSU can probably run most A64 systems without any problems at all. A cheap 300 W PSU, however, and all bets are off.

Somebody already has dibs on the graphics card if it lived. :D

That's kind of my assumption at this point. I've already got my "unplanned upgrade" parts on the way from Newegg.com. Mobo, CPU, RAM, hard drive and video card. And I'm replacing the PSU too.

Overclocking ram is pretty much a waste, as noted. For backups, it is probably easier to just get an external USB hard drive and use the backup software that comes with it. Much easier for Mom to understand than Raid 1 or ghosting or whatever. "Click on this and all the stuff in the big box...

I'm going to tear it all apart to see what burned/melted/whatever, I couldn't tell just by looking in the case. I thought the power switch thing was wierd as hell, but since the power switch on the front of the case just plugs into the mobo, if the mobo craps out, the switch might not do...

Here is what happened. 1) Thunder storm hit area with a ton of lightning while I was out of the house. PC was left on. (NOTE: PC was on surge protector) 2) Go to turn on PC, notice fans are running & LEDs are on, but nobody is home (no signal to monitor). Also, smell of burned plastic...

Right now, the truth is we've got no earthly idea if the next AMD or the next Intel processor will be better. Saying WOW INTEL PRESS RELEASES READ BETTER doesn't mean anything. Saying Intel has an advantage based on that is silly, it assumes that AMD is going to give away what they are doing...

And all of the Athlon 64's out right now are just killer bang-for-the-buck propositions for gaming. For $323 you can buy a 3800+ that out-performs every Intel desktop CPU in existence in games, including $1,000 Extreme Editions. And if you have the budget, the x2 processors are all-around...

Pentium 4 660. For $400 you get a CPU that is only marginally slower than a $600 670. With a bigger budget, the 670 is as fast or faster than the Extreme Editions at pretty much everything, and is only $600 vs. $1,000 for the EEs. Gaming performance may be kind of weak compared to AMD's...

Based on nVidia's own specs, the Smartpower 2.0 500W is good to go for SLI as well. +12V@36A (17A+19A). So why do you insist on saying otherwise? :confused:

I don't see any reason to conclude that the Enermax would be the slightest bit better than the Smartpower 2.0 500W. SLI Certified = marketing gimmick.

I've got a SmartPower 2.0 500W in my P180 case. It is a pretty nice PSU, comes with modular sleeved cables (though not as pretty as the above pics :eek: ), runs quiet if you have good airflow to it so both fans don't have to speed up. But if it was for a case that didn't have a big fan...

I'd recommend a 6800 GT or an x800 XL as far as relatively high end bang-for-the-buck goes. As far as I know, the fastest AGP 8x card is the x850 XT-PE.

That looks pretty dang good for an off-the-shelf system. A64 x2, too.

Boy, are you about to look silly... :p Emphasis added, in case you can't read well because of bad eyesight. Translation: "Who cares what reality is, I'll just repeat what I like to believe. LALALALALA..." This was a Dell all of 1 years old, incidentally. :rolleyes: Note that...